I have the same sense of the power and virtue of knowledge that some people get from a religious background.

In 15 years we'll have all the sequence, a list of the genes everyone has in common and those that differ among people. We know only something like a tenth of 1 percent of the sequence at the moment.

Why do we do basic research? To learn about ourselves.

The community as a whole doesn't listen patiently to critics who adopt alternative viewpoints. Although the great lesson of history is that knowledge develops through the conflict of viewpoints.

The human's place in the universe will be set in the scheme of evolution, the product of our biological inheritance.

Biology will relate every human gene to the genes of other animals and bacteria, to this great chain of being.

It's easier to change what you do than people think it is. If you don't change, your field changes around you.